[Air-L] Call for Panelists for Regenerating Trans Technologies Panel

[Hibby Thach]

Hi all!

I'm writing to circulate a call for panelists for a panel organized by me
and Dr. Oliver L. Haimson at the University of Michigan's School of
Information. We will be submitting this to the conference, so here's some
details below:

*Call for Panelists for Regenerating Trans Technologies*
Trans technologies are inherently regenerative. As defined by Haimson
(cite), trans technologies “embrace change and/or transition, foster the
creation of new trans worlds, and open up new possibilities for what
technology means and what it can do.” While many mainstream technologies
often exclude or harm trans people, trans people and communities have long
used, adapted, and built technologies to support trans care, connection,
survival, and creativity. These practices reflect ongoing cycles of
breakdown and renewal, as some technologies become unsafe or unusable and
new tools, spaces, and practices emerge in response.

We invite submissions from scholars, designers, artists, and community
practitioners who study, create, or use regenerative trans technologies for
a preconstituted panel at AoIR 2026. We are interested in work that
examines how trans people remake technologies in ways that prioritize trans
care and world-building, and how these efforts challenge dominant
assumptions about efficiency, neutrality, and progress in technology
design. Together, we aim to curate a set of panel papers that highlight how
trans technological practices offer alternative ways of imagining digital
futures.

We welcome submissions on topics including, but not limited to:
technological trans care, community-led design and building, mutual aid,
resisting or refusing technologies, AI, AR, VR, social media, platform
change or migration, and speculative or creative approaches to trans
technological futures. Please send a one-paragraph abstract to
hibby at umich.edu by February 20, 2026 to be considered for the panel.
Selected contributors will be invited to develop extended abstracts for a
preconstituted panel submission to AoIR 2026.

---

We know this is a tight turn-around, so apologies for that! If anyone has
any questions as well, feel free to send them my way. : )

Best,
Hibby

-- 
Graduate Student Coordinator
Trans Studies Research Workshop / RIW
<https://rackham.umich.edu/faculty-and-staff/faculty-and-program-funding/rackham-interdisciplinary-workshops/>
2024 - 2026

PhD Student
School of Information <https://www.si.umich.edu/>
University of Michigan

Website: www.hibbythach.com
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Twitch: @HibbyBoBibby <http://twitch.tv/hibbybobibby>
Pronouns: She/Her